New York: The Edmonton Oilers picked up their first win of the young NHL season when they upset the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay right winger Brett Connolly had tied it 2-2 with six minutes left in regulation, but center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins secured the victory, in the Oilers’ sixth game of the season, when he put one in off the post with 3:25 to go.
Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens (22 saves) and defensive pair of Mark Fayne and Martin Marincin kept the NHL’s hottest goal scorer, center Steve Stamkos, without a point.
After a scoreless first period, the Lightning jumped on top when a centering pass banked in off Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz’s skate at 1:22 of the second period and the goal credited to Tampa Bay center Bill Boyle.
Edmonton responded three minutes later when a Schultz backhander that was headed wide banked in off the knob of goaltender Ben Bishop’s stick.
The Oilers took their first lead of the game at 14:57 of the second when Fayne sent Taylor Hall in on a breakaway. The left winger was hauled down from behind, but he scored with a backhand deke on the ensuing penalty shot for his fourth goal in five games.
Bishop finished with 20 saves for the Lightning. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov was suspended indefinitely by the National Hockey League following his arrest early Monday on charges of domestic violence, the league said.
Voynov, 24, will be paid during the suspension but will be barred from all club activities pending a formal investigation, the NHL said.
It was not immediately clear what prompted Voynov’s arrest, and the league in its statement gave no other details about the incident. Representatives for the team and the league did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“These developments are of great concern to our organization,” the Kings said in a statement. “We support the NHL’s decision to suspend Slava Voynov indefinitely during this process, and we will continue to take appropriate action as the legal proceedings and the investigation by the NHL take their course.”
Voynov is in the second year of a six-year, $25m contract deal that pays him $4.16m annually. The Russian, who has spent his entire four-year career with the Kings, had two assists in six games this season.
Voynov’s suspension was in line with the league’s labor agreement, the league said in its statement.
Agencies
